The impeachment of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Olta Xhaçka, by Prime Minister Edi Rama, is not only directly related to the illegal pre-trial detention of the mayor of Himara (Χιμάρα, Albanian: Himarë) Fredi Beleri, but also to the business of her husband Artan Gaçi in the so-called Albanian Riviera.
An important member of the Socialist Party, the former foreign minister has been targeted by the opposition who asked the Constitutional Court to remove her from parliamentary office after her husband, a socialist and former MP, was declared a strategic investor by the Rama government and is building large tourist investment in the beach of Himara.
Her husband's activities in the seaside area, and specifically in the village of Drymades (Δρυμάδες, Albanian: Dhërmi), actually led her to develop into a fierce defender of Beleri pre-trial detention, since the expatriate mayor officially denounced Gaçi's illegal transactions, in collaboration with former mayor Jorgo Goro, who is still illegally in his position.
The complaint was made to the Special Prosecutor's Office, where Gaçi and Goro are accused of falsifying documents, in order for the businessman to get his hands on an area of 5,512 square meters, and money laundering from illegal activities.
Olta Xhaçka, currently the Minister of Foreign Affairs, by her inaction, not declaring the conflict of interest, has benefited through the marital agreement property rights and illegal benefits, which according to the law on strategic investors as well as the law on the conflict of interest do not should acquire.
Through a strategic investment in a fake property, she has benefited from the right to freely use state assets for which ordinary citizens pay tax obligations, etc.
Xhaçka is not a random person but a prominent member of the Socialist Party of Albania and a former Minister of Defence of the country. In fact, she was present in the first positions, when Rama announced her dismissal, along with six other ministers, during a session of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party in Tirana.
An Albanian analyst argued that the recent arrests have targeted Prime Minister Edi Rama's government, hitting the pillars of his program. Arion Sulo said this in a televised interview, where he also commented on the sweeping reshuffle.
Which Rama announced during a session of their party's Central Committee, with Xhaçka being expelled because of the land her husband acquired as a supposed "strategic investor" in Himara.
However, so far the removal of Xhaçka is not interpreted as the Albanian prime minister's intention to put an end to the illegal imprisonment of Beleri, allowing him to be sworn in as mayor of Himara and to officially exercise the duties for which his fellow citizens elected him for in May.
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